


Always Check the Body Before Declaring Someone Dead

by CabbageHead



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azula's Life Changing Field Trip, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Lu Ten lives, Sibling Bonding, Slave Trade, There Is No War In Ba Sing Se
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-21 18:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30026337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CabbageHead/pseuds/CabbageHead
Summary: Lu Ten is declared dead and the 600 day Siege of Ba Sing Se comes to an end.  But unbeknownst to General Iroh, a compassionate Earth Kingdom doctor pulls his son from the rubble and saves his life.  Now Lu Ten is trapped in the Great Walled City, recovering from near-fatal injuries, and will only survive if the Dai Li don't find him.Meanwhile, Ozai ascends the throne and mild chaos ensues.
Relationships: Azula & Lu Ten & Zuko, Azula & Ursa (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Lu Ten, Toph & Zuko & Azula, Ursa & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	1. The Time Zuko Lied

It had been mere weeks since Lu Ten had been pronounced dead and less than that since Mother had disappeared and Azula was still upset about it. She didn’t show it of course. It had only taken seeing Zuko punished for asking about Mother once for her to shut those emotions down in the vault where Father wouldn’t see. Eventually, she knew, the sadness and betrayal would turn to anger and hatred, and then it would just fuel her instead of threaten to drown her.

But for now she would have to wait.

“I heard you were promoted to the Fire Lord’s personal attendant?” a young maid giggled to her companion as they walked through the corridor adjacent to the room Azula was studying in across from her useless brother.

“Indeed. He prefers younger women, after all,” her companion informed her, smirking fit to disgrace Captain Zhao. “Not like that _hag_ he married.”

Azula’s vision went white.

A scream filled her ears, one long, high pitched and hysterical note that faded to nothing as its source retreated. When it was gone, she could hear an anguished and guttural moan cut off in gasps and choking sounds.

Two arms encircled her, pulling her from the gasping and choking thing, and she squirmed but Zuzu’s voice cut into the white.

“We have to get out of here _now_ ,” he hissed, bodily dragging her away from the thing writhing beneath her hands. She shook herself and ran along side him to the courtyard. When they paused for breath, he turned to her. “Azula,” he said, “I know you’re mad about what she said—and I am too—but you can’t go burning the face off _Father’s favorite maid_ just because she made you mad.”

She looked up at him, shock and terror chasing away the fog. “Father’s favorite maid,” she repeated, bile rising in her throat. “Will. . . will she live?”

Zuko grimaced. “You shot fire down her throat and probably destroyed her lungs. You don’t exactly hold back when you get like that.”

That was when the sound of impending doom came towards them from beyond the open doorway that lead into the palace.

Azula froze in place. Father’s footsteps had never before felt like mounting the chopping block for her. Please no. How could she get out of this? What could she say to stay his hand?

“Go.”

She looked at her brother.

His lips were pressed into a thin line, but he was standing his ground. “Go and hide in the Nest. I’ll come find you after.”

She forced herself to nod and raced to the spot Lu Ten had made for the three of them to hide in and share their spoils. She made it there without being spotted and hunkered down into the blankets that lined the Nest. Only once she’d made it inside did it occur to her that she hadn’t asked how Zuko intended to handle the situation.

She waited a few minutes, held by indecision. Father had always been careful not to leave any obvious marks on Zuko, so she could reasonably assume he would still show some mercy. Zuko screwed up all the time. It was fine. It would be fine.

Zuko also couldn’t lie to save his life.

(Mother wasn’t here to protect him anymore. She wasn’t here to protect either of them.)

She slipped out of the Nest undetected and walked confidently past guards and servants alike. No one stopped her. Until she stood in front of Zuko’s room.

“Fire Lord’s orders, Your Highness,” the faceless guard informed her when she bid him move aside. “No one in or out.”

A much quieter fury roiled in her, but she smiled and nodded and walked away.

She spent her time studying like she was supposed to but if she stared at Zuzu’s empty seat more than necessary, no one would know. When it was time for the guards to change, she went to visit Zuko’s room, the material he was supposed to learn today tucked under one arm.

“I was told to give him these,” she said sweetly, jostling the scrolls lightly.

The guard looked at them and back at her. “I’ll pass them along, Your Highness.”

The fury seethed within her, but it did not taint her smile. “I see. Thank you.” She passed the scrolls off, grateful she’d thought ahead and put a note inside the one he’d no doubt open first. So, she strolled off to find out what she could of the maid.

She found out that the doctors had been unable to save her and performed funeral rites near where the palace waste was disposed of. How fitting, she nearly laughed. The maid’s companion, who had been the source of the shriek, was weeping in a corner and telling anyone who would listen that a wrathful Spirit had attacked her friend.

Azula found some small satisfaction in that.

But she was still bored and worried and hated both of those feelings. She walked out to the turtleduck pond and stood next to the spot Zuko usually occupied. Watching the mother shepherd around her ducklings pried open the vault, sending a torrent of memories and emotions she wished could be burned away as easily as trash.

She didn’t care to think about how long she stared at the little family, trying to force her face to be vacant, but the sun had dipped down below the walls and the sky was turning golden and pink.

It was time to try again.

The guard at the door saw her and immediately turned their back to her, a universally acknowledged signal for _I don’t see anything_. She slipped quietly through the door, wondering briefly if the guard had unlocked it, before stopping short. The door swung shut behind her.

Ahead of her, face pressed to the floor, was her brother. His eyes were shut but he was breathing, just barely. His back had enormous welts and deep cuts on it. She lit a fire in her palm and approached.

They weren’t welts.

Father had used a fire whip.

She stifled a cry and shoved her fear down. Right now she had to get a doctor while the guard was turning a blind eye. She rushed out but a firm hand stopped her progress.

“Your Highness,” the guard whispered, “All the doctors have been instructed to avoid this room under penalty of death. You will need to leave the palace to find someone who will help.”

She turned to face him. The voice was familiar. It was the man who Lu Ten often asked to join in on their antics. His childhood friend. “Thank you. How do you suggest I do that?”

He knelt and handed her a map. It contained the palace on one side, with all its servant corridors and hidden places, and the layout of the city on the other. There was a path traced lightly on both. “Personally, I would recommend you take the Prince and leave this place. Son Tano, your maid, has asked me to tell you that she agrees. Even if you bring a doctor from outside here, you will still be risking your father’s wrath on both you and the Prince, to say nothing of the doctor.”

Azula looked at the map and spared a glance for the brother hidden from view behind the door. “Where is Son Tano?”

Of the hundreds that had been pulled from the battlefield, only a mere ninety three survived the following days. Tora visited each of the survivors and talked to those who were unfortunate enough to be awake. One such was a young man whose arm she’d amputated and whose raspy voice was trying to call for someone.

His eyes were shut behind the bandages, but his remaining arm flailed about, trying to seek out some small measure of comfort. They were all just children when all was said and done. Even full grown men call for mothers and fathers and wives when all they know is pain and fear.

She took a deep breath, tainted with iron and salt and burned meat, and caught his hand (squeezing just hard enough to ground him).

“It’s still too early for you to wake. Here’s some tea to help you sleep.” She helped him raise his head enough to drink. After the first swallow his chest convulsed, and she realized he was sobbing. She let him catch his breath before making him drink the rest but tears still darkened the bandages on his face.

The only words she caught before blissful unconsciousness took him were, “Father. . . I’m sorry. . .”

She eased him down and checked his pulse. Steady, now that it had slowed. He’d live if he had the will for it. She continued down the line, checking bandages and making mental notes of which ones would be ready for the move into the lower ring of the city. It was going to be a long road for these soldiers.

Longer still for the Fire Nation soldier who’d survived and been left behind.

Her eyes lingered on the place he slept. No one had noticed when her husband pulled him from the rubble and hid his armor on the pretext of making things easier on the doctors. They’d be punished as enemy sympathizers if he was found. But neither of them could stomach not at least trying to save a living person, regardless of the color they wore.

She breathed in the tainted air and prayed for a swift end to the war.


	2. Smugglers and Slaves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Please check the new tags/rating before reading this chapter. I do not go into detail on it but it is mentioned, so I figured I should warn you guys.

Chains clinked and feet shuffled all around her but all she could see through the blindfold was flashes of light as the procession passed small windows. She’d heard the men who sold them talking and apparently, she was in the Earth Kingdom now. She grit her teeth. No one would come for her, so she would have to make do herself.

A gravelly voice told them to halt and turn to their right. The sound of people shuffling to obey before a whip was used echoed slightly. By the sound, they were in a fairly large room.

“Sir,” the voice continued, now more cajoling, “you have the first pick. All are healthy and young enough to work. The women are also all of childbearing age, too.”

Slow and dare-she-say poised footsteps approached the line. A snap of this person’s fingers resulted in her blindfold being ripped off. Her eyes adjusted surprisingly quickly to the dim green lit room and before her stood a man in a green trimmed black robe. His face reminded her of rotting produce.

“This one’s Fire Nation, isn’t she? How did you get her?” he asked, staring at her face and eyes.

“She was fleeing to the coast and one of my men figured no one would mind if we snatched her.”

The man smirked. “The Fire Nation. . . I suppose the trade knows no political boundaries.”

“Do you want her, sir?”

Ursa did not let her disgust show on her face and she kept her eyes downcast. If this man thought she would be docile, she’d have a better chance of escape.

“Hmm. What is your name?” he asked her.

“. . . Hanako.” It was the name of a maid she had an agreement with, and she herself was of common blood, so it would be believable.

“A pretty name,” he mused and for a moment, Fire Lord Azulon stood before her. “Very well, I’ll buy her.”

A lengthy haggling session ensued and by the end her _new owner_ paid only half of what had been asked. It galled her to be sold but, in a way, this wasn’t the first time.

As she followed him out, he turned to look back at her. “My name is Long Feng, leader of the Dai Li and secretary to the Earth King. You will address me as ‘sir’ from now on.”

She swallowed back her loathing and replied, “Yes, sir.”

Roman stood amidst the rubble. The rational part of his mind told him it was a dream and that he was asleep in his bed next to his wife. The rest of his exhausted brain insisted that he was back at the wall, pulling dead and dying men from beneath the stones. In front of him, there was a body in Fire Nation armor.

Was it so wrong to show an enemy kindness?

There was someone behind him. A Dai Li agent, just watching and waiting for him to decide.

 _Tora will be killed_ , said the voice in his head. He had to leave the man. He had to. But his hands reached out anyway and pulled off the helmet. Beneath was a young man, too young to be fighting and dying in a war without end. He gritted his teeth and pulled him out.

The Dai Li agent’s face was a mask of stone as he raised his arms and buried them both.

He woke with a shudder, exactly where he’d expected to be: Tora sleeping soundly next to him, one hand interlaced with his because it was too warm to cuddle. He dragged in a breath and turned his face to the window. The moon’s light filtered through the thin curtains like the Spirit intended to reach into their room and claim it as their own.

A scream carried up through the floorboards, so he gently untangled his hand from hers and rose to check on their guests.

Their apartment sat over a small clinic that had been converted into a military infirmary. There were several like it along the edge of the lower ring, each with its own staff. Even so, there were too many people crammed into too tight a space. Roman tread carefully—it wouldn’t do to jostle any of them even though most were drugged so they’d sleep through the night—and made his way over to the far corner, where a young man thrashed around, trying to free himself from the bandages and blankets.

Roman caught his left shoulder (there weren’t any bandages there so it wouldn’t hurt him) and spoke softly to him. “Hey, take it easy, kid. They’re just blankets. You’ll hurt yourself if you move like that.”

“Where. . .?” he rasped.

“In an infirmary in Ba Sing Se.” The panic on his face made him realize who this was. “Oh. Oh, don’t worry. We aren’t going to turn you in or anything.”

“. . . why?”

Roman chuckled. “Because neither I nor my wife can leave someone who might be saved. We’ll get you out of Ba Sing Se once you’re recovered enough to travel. What’s your name?”

“. . . Lu Ten,” was the reply as he let himself be rearranged under the blankets.

Roman grimaced at the sight. He hated not having enough decent beds for everyone, but he hated having so many people in this place more. And it was likely only going to get worse. Even with the Dragon of the West retreating from the city, this war wasn’t over. “I’m Roman. My wife is Tora. We’re going to get you back to your family as soon as we can, alright?”

Lu Ten groaned and said, “Grandfather’s. . . going to be so mad.”

“How come? Because you had help from the Earth Kingdom?”

“That too.” He took in a rattling breath. “Father called—” he coughed and settled back down “—off the attack.”

 _Oh no._ “. . . who is your father?”

Lu Ten smiled ruefully. “General Iroh. Regretting your kindness now?”

 _Oh Spirits, this kid’s the Prince. I’m so gonna get executed for this._ He forced a smile, even though _Prince Lu Ten_ couldn’t see him. “Not at all. Your family has no bearing on our decision. It really just means we will have to get you out of here sooner rather than later.”

Lu Ten’s eyes were still covered by bandages, but his mouth betrayed his surprise and confusion. “Thank you,” he said finally.

“No problem. Get some rest.” He was suddenly very grateful they didn’t have kids.

She woke to an empty bed. “Honey?” she called groggily.

Roman poked his head through the door. “Just made breakfast. Want some?”

She smiled and stretched. “Sure. Be out in a bit.” His face disappeared again, and she heard him talking to their assistants about feeding the soldiers. She took a moment to convince herself that she needed to leave the warm bed and proceeded to rush through getting dressed.

She made it into the kitchen just as the big pots were being taken down to the clinic. Roman was sitting at the table, a place set for her but not him. “Already eaten?” she asked.

“Wasn’t hungry. I have to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?”

“Our. . . patient. The one we’re not supposed to have.” He rubbed the back of his neck and didn’t look at her.

“What about him?” She raised an eyebrow. He was never this cryptic. “You’re not suggesting stopping treatment, are you?”

His head jerked up. “No! It’s just that he told me something last night—or was it early this morning? Doesn’t matter.” He dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. “Anyway. He’s, uh, the General’s son.”

She blinked. “The Dragon of the West’s son.” She placed each word carefully, watching his face.

He nodded once. “Prince Lu Ten. Who volunteered this information because he apparently realized how much trouble we’d be in if this was found out. That, or his head injury rendered him oddly honest.”

She drew in a breath and released it sharply, letting her head fall forward onto her arms. “We’ve done risky things before,” she said at length, “but this is. . . a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I told him we’d still treat him and get him out safely. We’ll just have to treat it like any other smuggling job.” Even without looking, she could see the look on his face. He’d given this a lot of thought over the last few hours.

“Alright. He’s just some soldier. Let’s get to work then.” She crammed her food down and they descended the stairs to meet their fate.

Ursa stood and stretched out her back. It’d been about twelve years since she’d had to do any real cleaning herself and she’d almost forgotten how exhausting it could be. The other woman glanced at her curiously.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” she started, setting her rag down for a moment, “but you’re Fire Nation, aren’t you?”

Ursa smiled dryly. “Didn’t seem to matter much to Mr. Long Feng.”

“Has he. . . taken you yet?”

Ursa stared at her. “You mean into his room? No. You?”

She lowered her eyes and gripped her wrist to keep her hands from shaking. It was answer enough. “I’m his current _toy_ ,” she spat, but the venom was for their owner.

Even if she hadn’t experienced something similar at the hand of her husband, she would have hated the man just from hearing about this. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

The girl met her eyes in surprise then averted them just as quickly. “Only if you’ve been pregnant before.”

“I’ve given birth to two healthy children.” They were the only good thing that came from her stay at the palace, if she was honest.

Hope crossed her face. “What did you say your name was?”

“Hanako.”

“I’m Shoni. Thank you so much, Hanako.” She smiled but then it darkened as a thought occurred to her. “Where are your children?”

Ursa ached at the thought of them. “Still with my husband.” She must have shown something on her face at the last word because Shoni’s face went white. “He won’t hurt them,” she assured her. _He swore he wouldn’t. That was our deal_.

She’d kill him if he ever broke that vow.

Shoni nodded and got back to work. Ursa followed suit, trying not to miss them so much. Trying not to think that she would never see them again.


	3. Azula Gets a Lesson in Kidnapping

The Dai Li were coming to their clinic-turned-triage-center. They were at the door and Tora had just removed the bandages over Lu Ten’s eyes. She searched his face and found to her delight he had amber eyes, easily mistaken for brown. She quickly retied his hair in a proper Earth Kingdom style.

“I’m sorry, but it’s necessary,” she whispered. He was already wearing green thanks to Roman, so there was nothing else to do but wait.

“I understand,” he reassured her. “Thank you.”

Then Long Feng himself walked in and Tora nearly dropped her supplies. She straightened up and bowed respectfully. Returning to her rounds like nothing was different. Roman caught her eye from across the room and smiled encouragingly.

Long Feng scanned the beds and grimaced at the many bandages in the middle of being changed. “Which one of you is Tora?” he asked the room at large.

Tora set down her things and called an assistant to check the patient she was leaving. Then she turned to the man, who’d been pulling the strings of the city for years now, and replied, “I am Tora. What can I do for you?”

“I’ve been told you served many years as a midwife in the middle and upper rings,” he said, smiling benevolently. “I’m here to request your assistance with two newly expecting women in my household.”

Relief flooded her system and she channeled it into a joyful smile. “I see. Congratulations. I will need a few moments to gather my supplies.” They bowed to each other as befitted their agreement and ranks and she maneuvered around many bodies to reach the second floor. She allowed herself to release the sigh of relief once she was out of sight but had to draw herself up and run through a mental checklist of what she would need.

She threw a nicer outfit on. It was still a uniform, but it was the one reserved for patients that weren’t bleeding out, so it didn’t have the stains.

Once she had everything, she returned to the ground level and followed Long Feng out the door.

Ursa watched through a crack in the door as Shoni and Lenah were told to stand before Long Feng. An unfamiliar woman was with him, graying hair and gentle creases in her face the only indication of her age. Her eyes roved over the pair and missed nothing.

“I will need to do the check up without you here, I’m afraid,” she told Long Feng.

He bowed slightly and walked towards the door Ursa was hiding behind. She backed up and bowed her head as he emerged. “Something you need in there?” he asked her, face stony.

“I was merely concerned that something was wrong, sir. That woman is a midwife, I assume?”

“Indeed.” He turned away and continued down the hall. “It would not do to lose the children or the girls.”

Disgust roiled in her gut and she stayed by the door both guarding and waiting.

A knock sounded from within and Lenah’s voice asked, “Is he still there?”

“No, he left.” The door opened and Lenah gestured for her to come inside. “How are they?” she asked the midwife as she entered.

She smiled. “Perfectly healthy.” Then the smile fell away, and she said, “But there are marks that I’m not pleased to see.”

Ursa nodded. “I’m not surprised.”

“Hanako,” Shoni said, “will that affect the child?”

Ursa shook her head. “Not if he leaves you alone while you’re pregnant. Both of mine grew up strong.”

The midwife’s eyebrows rose. “He mentioned that these were his first.”

“Ah, I’m new here.” Ursa grimaced. “Fresh from my husband’s house.” She made no effort to hide her contempt in their presence. And honestly, she could only bear to afford him that title because his name was damning, and she was too thoroughly drilled in etiquette to call him by the name he deserved.

“Ms. Tora—” Lenah started.

“Just Tora if you don’t mind.”

“Ah, sorry. What should we expect? I—this is the first time for me.”

Tora sighed and sat both young women down. She explained in as much detail as their short time allowed what was normal and what was not. “Ideally, you’d have other women like your mothers and grandmothers to walk through this with you. Fortunately, Hanako here will also be able to keep tabs on you between my visits,” she finished, smiling up at Ursa.

“I’m no doctor, but I’ll do what I can, certainly.”

Son Tano was Azula’s favorite maid and had been since she was very little. A tall and somewhat stocky woman who was perhaps ten years older than Mother—though Azula had never asked—and blessed with a large presence and a ready smile.

She wasn’t smiling now though.

She daubed some salve on the burns and bandaged Zuko as best she could. “Have you made up your mind, little one?” she asked, eyes still on her work.

Azula hummed softly and admitted, “I don’t _want_ to have to leave.”

“I see.”

Azula was filled with deep annoyance that the woman, who clearly had opinions on this, didn’t even try to talk her into going. What had been the point of telling the guard—Jasan? She was pretty sure that was his name—that she agreed with them leaving the palace?

“Father might relent about not having doctors treat him if we wait a day or so,” she explained. (She shouldn’t have to _explain_ , she was the princess.)

Son Tano nodded and collected all the evidence of her aid, her face neutral but her eyes full of doubt. They tucked Zuko in and for a moment, Azula hesitated at the door. She didn’t like the thought of letting him wake up alone.

“The guard changes in two hours,” Son Tano reminded her. “Make sure you leave before then.”

She shook her head. “I’m going to bed now.” The maid watched her quietly but said nothing as they left together. She nodded to the guard as he resumed his watch.

Azula spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling.

Jasan was serving shifts every other day it seems, so Azula couldn’t visit the next day. By the time she could, Zuko was shivering with fever and his eyes were unfocused. He did recognize her though.

“He didn’t hurt you right?” he asked.

“Zuzu,” Azula chided, “of course he didn’t. And besides, you broke your promise.”

He looked at her strangely, but she waited and raised an eyebrow until understanding dawned. “How long did you wait?”

“Hours. And to think, I’ve always believed you couldn’t lie convincingly to save your life.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. And I wasn’t lying! Or, I wasn’t trying to lie, at least. I passed out. That doesn’t normally happen when. . .” He frowned. “It was different this time, wasn’t it.”

The lack of a question there made something in her ache. “He used fire this time.” She spoke those words quietly, even though it was cowardly.

Zuko set his jaw and said nothing, blinking rapidly. “It’s okay,” he whispered.

The ache grew until it filled her chest. So she changed the subject. “Guess what I found,” she gloated, pulling out a scroll.

“. . . what?”

She showed him and smiled (with amusement and nothing weaker) as his face lit up. So they read the play scroll together until Jasan knocked on the door to tell them shift change was upon them.

Zuko was getting sicker. Son Tano could only do so much since she wasn’t a doctor and Azula knew next to nothing about how to treat burn infections. She decided to take a risk and talk to Father about it.

Father’s smile sent shivers down her spine. She smiled back.

“This is the only way he will learn, it seems,” Father told her, still smiling. “I’m certain you understand.”

“So it’s no problem that he’s sick?” she asked sweetly, putting on her best show of malice.

“None at all.” Which was Father-speak for _You’re my successor._

She left his presence with a triumphant smile and bile in her throat.

Azula might have wanted the throne, but not like this. Never like this. Oh, she’d threaten and tease Zuzu about it, but at the end of the day he’d _lied_ for her. Father apparently had no idea that it hadn’t been Zuko who'd lost his temper. Go figure he could lie when it was someone else on the line.

“We have to leave, if Zuko is going to survive this,” she told Son Tano.

The maid nodded and outlined a plan. “Tonight. I’ll be waiting for you there.”

The moon had just risen, a thin crescent peaking over the palace walls, and Azula was sneaking along like she and Zuko and Lu Ten did when they were taking food out of the kitchens without permission. It was strange to be doing it alone.

She got past the guards and passed unnoticed mere inches behind Father as he made his way to his rooms. _Don’t get giddy now_ , she reminded herself. _You’re only halfway there_.

Everything was fine until she reached the gate.

“Where are you off to this late at night?” asked a voice to her right.

She stopped and turned leisurely to look. It was Lao, the guard who had always been especially vigilant and had kept his head for this reason. He also only stopped them when Lu Ten wasn’t with them.

“Couldn’t sleep. I’ll be back before they notice though,” she lied, sighing for effect.

He hummed. “Princess Azula, you know I can’t let you leave without at least an escort. Chiro should be off his shift and can go with you if your insist on going.”

She considered this. It threw a wrench in their plan a bit, but she _could_ shake a guard. In theory. “Acceptable. Where should I find him?”

Lao jerked his thumb in the direction of the little building where some of the night guards would rest or play games. She smiled and slipped through the shadows and peeked inside. There was a young guard reading a letter inside, and two more sleeping on bunks.

“Chiro?” she whisper asked sweetly.

The guard looked up but couldn’t see her through the window. “Is that you, Princess?”

She poked her head through the door. “Lao says I can’t go for a midnight stroll without an escort and volunteered you.”

His face brightened. “I see.” He put the letter away and she made her way over to the gate to wait.

“Where are we going?” he asked as he joined her. He’d traded his helmet and plate armor for a citizen’s coat that mostly covered the soldiers’ clothes underneath.

“Just perusing the empty streets to clear my head.”

He nodded and bowed to Lao as they departed. She knew that her pace was too slow, and that Son Tano would worry, but she couldn’t rush things either, so she strolled leisurely but inarguably toward the southern edge of Caldera. As they neared the residential area, Azula turned to Chiro and offered an apologetic smile.

“You’ll probably get in a lot of trouble for this,” she said. “I would have preferred to confer this honor on a guard I didn’t like.”

He stared at her. “What d—” She cut off his question by vanishing into the shadows of a building. “Princess!” he shouted, before getting a swift kick to the back of the head. He dropped hard.

“Oops,” she muttered. “Oh well. If he has any sense he’ll disappear too.”

Now she could rush things. . . well, only as much as being silent allowed for. She made it to their meeting place beneath a final overhang without further trouble. Son Tano smiled wide when she spotted her.

“What kept you?”

“Lao. Then Chiro.”

Son Tano grimaced and sighed. “Well, getting past him is near impossible. I should have known.” The cloth bundle at her back groaned. “We should hurry then.”

They mounted a komodo rhino that Son Tano had taken from the stables and said goodbye to Caldera.


End file.
